Light-transmissible construction material and manufacturing method for the same

ABSTRACT

A light-transmissible construction material and manufacturing method for the same. The light-transmissible construction material comprises at least a light-transmitting unit and a concrete unit. The light-transmitting unit has a light entrance end, a light exit end, and a lateral wall between both ends. The lateral wall of the light-transmitting unit is enclosed and surrounded with the concrete unit. The light entrance and exit end of the light-transmitting unit are exposed from two opposite surfaces of the concrete unit. A method for manufacturing the same light-transmissible construction material comprises: placing at least one light-transmitting unit between two side formworks; filling the concrete grout between above two side formworks; and drying the concrete grout to form the light-transmissible construction material.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 11/445,276, filed on Jun. 2, 2006, for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120; and this application claims priority of application Ser. No. 094,132,248 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Sep. 15, 2005 under 35 U.S.C. §119; the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a light-transmissible construction material and a method for manufacturing the same; particularly, the present invention relates to a material for constructing a light-transmissible or semi-light-transmissible structure and a method for manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Concrete plays a very important role for modern architecture structures in recent years. And its adjustable gravity and other multiple applications make it highly practicable for various construction designs and requirements.

However, most architects and engineers are more concerned about the use of concrete material on the structure design rather than the exterior design work. Even some architects and interior designers give concrete material higher value for its simple and plain characteristic recently, and apply it to the exterior design of the architecture, the main concerns are still focused on the traditional character of concrete material though.

In the field of architecture and interior design work, the use of light is very important. However, the traditional concrete, brick, wood and other construction material are mostly opaque in property. In order to satisfy the demand for the special effect resulted from light source, some architectures and interior designers would adopt the glass bricks to build a transparent structure, such as the transparent wall structure. But the architectonic sense of the glass brick structure is totally different from the one provided by the concrete material.

In addition, concrete material often becomes a load-bearing structure independently or joined with the steel frame structure to provide such supporting forces. Furthermore, as a result of the opaque character of concrete material, it is not easy to discover the internal structure fracture from the surface when the structure is affected by the external force.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a light-transmissible construction material to construct a light-transmissible or semi-light-transmissible structure. It is another object of the present invention to provide a light-transmissible construction material, capable of transmitting light and remaining the characteristic of the concrete material. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a light-transmissible construction material, increasing the variety of architecture design. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a light-transmissible construction material, having the function of measuring the internal fracture. It is still another object of the invention to provide a method for effectively manufacturing a light-transmissible construction material. It is the other object of the invention to provide a construction structure system, having the function of measuring the internal fracture.

The light-transmissible construction material of the present invention comprises at least a light-transmissible unit and concrete unit. The light-transmitting unit has a light entrance end, a light exit end, and a lateral wall between both ends. The lateral wall of the light-transmitting unit is enclosed and surrounded with the concrete unit. The concrete structure also positions the light-transmissible unit and provides the structure strength as a whole. The light entrance and exit end of the light-transmitting unit are exposed from two opposite surfaces of the concrete unit.

By disposing the light-transmissible unit, light fully or partially penetrates, refracts and reflects through one side of the construction material to the other side. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the above light-transmissible construction material. At the beginning, placing at least one light-transmitting unit between two side formworks; then filling the concrete grout between above two side formworks; and drying the concrete grout to form the light-transmissible construction material. In the preferred embodiment, the dried construction material could be cut into different shapes and sizes to fulfill the needs for different designs and construction requirements.

The construction structure system of the present invention comprises a light-transmissible unit, frame unit and concrete unit. The light-transmitting unit has a light entrance end and a light exit end. After entering the light entrance end, the light is able to exit fully or partially from the light exit end. There is a middle part between the light entrance and exit end. The middle part of the light-transmitting unit is connected to the frame unit and thus attached to the frame unit. In the preferred embodiment, the middle part is connected to the frame unit by a binding device. The concrete unit encloses at least a part of the frame unit and the middle part of light-transmitting unit. The concrete unit is joined with frame unit to provide the structure strength as a whole. The light entrance and exit end of the light-transmitting unit are exposed from two surfaces of the concrete unit.

Because of the light-transmissible characteristic of the light-transmitting unit, the light entering the light entrance end may be received at the light exit end when the light-transmitting unit is continuous. When the frame unit or concrete unit has a fracture or other form of damages, the light-transmitting unit also breaks or produces the fracture accordingly. At the mean time, the inner part of the light-transmitting unit produces discontinuousness and unable to receive the light at light exit end. Therefore, this light-transmissible characteristic could be adopted to observe the internal fracture of construction structure or other forms of damages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 a is the preferred embodiment of the present invention light-transmissible construction material;

FIG. 1 b is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 1 c shows another embodiment of the light-transmissible construction material;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the light-transmissible construction material;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for manufacturing the light-transmissible construction material of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a preferred embodiment of an exemplary formworks assembling of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the incision of the concrete material of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of another exemplary method for manufacturing the light-transmissible construction material of the present invention;

FIG. 7 a, FIG. 7 b and FIG. 7 c show another exemplary formwork assembling of the present invention;

FIG. 8 a and FIG. 8 b show another exemplary formwork assembling of the present invention;

FIG. 8 c is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 8 b;

FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b show another exemplary method for manufacturing the light-transmissible construction material of the present invention;

FIG. 10 a is a preferred embodiment of the construction structure system of the present invention;

FIG. 10 b shows a preferred embodiment of the construction structure system of the present invention including a steel joint; and

FIG. 10 c shows a preferred embodiment of the construction structure system of the present invention including a steel connecting tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a light-transmissible construction material to construct a light-transmissible or semi-light-transmissible structure. The light-transmissible characteristic mentioned here refers to the phenomenon of light penetrating, refracting and reflecting fully or partially through the construction material of the present invention. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is making a light-transmissible concrete brick to build a structure. However, in the other embodiments, the construction material of the present invention could also be adopted to construct a platy, columnar or other shaped of construction material. In addition, the concrete material of the present invention could also be applied to measure an inner structure damage.

A preferred embodiment of the light-transmissible construction material of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 a. As shown in FIG. 1 a, the construction material comprises at least a light-transmissible unit 200 and a concrete unit 300. In the preferred embodiment, the light-transmissible unit 200 includes a plurality of light conductive fibers. In another embodiment, however, the light-transmissible unit 200 could also include a light conductive membrane or other element capable of transmitting light. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the construction material could simultaneously contain the light-transmitting fibers and the membrane as well.

As the perspective drawing shown in FIG. 1 b, the light-transmitting unit 200 includes a light entrance end 210 and a light exit end 230, which are the opposite ends of the light-transmitting fiber of the preferred embodiment. After entering the light entrance end 210, the light fully or partially exits from the light exit end 230 as the physical phenomenon of light penetration, refraction and reflection in the light-transmitting unit 200. The light-transmitting unit 200 has a lateral wall 250 between the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230. In this preferred embodiment, the lateral wall 250 is in a round tubule shape to provide a better light-transmitting result. However, in another embodiment, the shape of the lateral wall 250 could be quadrate tubule, platy or in other forms as well.

As shown in FIG. 1 b, the light-transmitting units 200 are preferably placed parallel to each other. However, in another embodiment, the light-transmitting units 200 could also be crossingly disposed and the light-transmitting units 200 may be bent freely according to different needs without affecting the light transmission. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 c, the light-transmitting units 200 are disposed in vertical and horizontal direction, thus the light in different directions can be directed. Besides, the preferred embodiment of the placement of the light-transmitting unit 200 is disposed as matrix as the cross-section drawing shown in FIG. 2.

The concrete unit 300 covers the lateral wall 250 of the light-transmitting unit 200. The concrete unit 300 also positions the light-transmitting unit 200 and provides necessary structure strength. It needs to be noticed that the concrete unit 300 merely covers the lateral wall 250 of the light-transmitting unit 200 without covering the light entrance end 210 and light exit end 230. Namely, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 are exposed from two ends of concrete unit 300. In the preferred embodiment, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 are exposed from two opposite surfaces of the concrete unit 300. However in other form of embodiment, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 could be exposed from two adjacent surfaces of the concrete unit 300 as well.

The preferred embodiment of the concrete unit 300 is opaque, i.e., the light is not allowed to pass the concrete unit 300. The characteristic could increase the light reflection effect within the light-transmitting unit 200 to raise the efficiency of the light transmission. In addition, the concrete unit 300 is made of concrete or grout containing light weight aggregate. The gravity of the concrete or grout is preferably smaller than the gravity of the light-transmitting unit 200 to prevent the light-transmitting unit 200 from floating during the process of filling the concrete grout. However, in another embodiment, the gravity of the concrete or grout could also be larger than the gravity of the light-transmitting unit 200. In this embodiment, it may be necessary to position the light-transmitting unit 200 in advance or adopt a sequent concrete grout filling process to prevent the light-transmitting unit 200 from floating during the process of filling the concrete grout.

Because of the light-transmissible characteristic of the light-transmitting unit 200, the light entering the light entrance end 210 may be received at the light exit end 230 when the light-transmitting unit 200 is continuous, and thus producing the visual effect of light-transmissible, semi-light-transmissible or partially light-transmissible of the construction material of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the light entrance end 210 may also extend to a light source 100. The light generated by the light source 100 enters the light entrance end 210 of the light-transmitting unit 200 then exits to an internal space formed by the construction material through light exit end 230. The characteristic could provide the practice of interior lighting design or other ambient lighting design. The preferred embodiment of the light source is the light in nature including sunshine. However in another embodiment, the light source 100 may be a spot light or other lighting device.

Besides, when the construction material of the present invention has a fracture or other form of damage as a result of an external force, the light-transmitting unit 200 also breaks or produces the fracture accordingly. In the mean time, the internal of the light-transmitting unit 200 becomes discontinuous and affects the light-transmissible characteristic. Therefore, when the light received at the light exit end 230 changes or terminates, it is considered that the interior structure of the construction material has a fracture or other form of damages.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method for manufacturing the light-transmissible construction material. As shown in FIG. 4, step 401 includes placing at least a light-transmitting unit 200 between two side formworks 510. As the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the formwork for manufacturing the construction material comprises a side formwork 510, a bottom formwork 530 and a lateral formwork 550. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of light conductive fibers are parallelly disposed between two formworks 510.

Then fill the concrete grout between two formworks 510 in step 403 and dry the concrete grout to produce the construction material in step 405. As shown in FIG. 6, the produced construction material may be cut into different shapes and sizes to satisfy the demands for different designs and construction requirements.

The other function flow diagram shown in FIG. 7 is another exemplary manufacturing method of the construction material of the present invention. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned step 401 further includes step 1011, juxtaposing the two side formworks 510. As shown in FIG. 7 a, each side formwork 510 has a hole 511 which is opposite to the other hole located on the other side formwork 510. When both side formworks 510 juxtaposes, the corresponding holes 511 on opposite side formworks 510 are aligned.

Step 4013 includes passing the light-transmitting unit 200 through corresponding holes 511 of the two side formworks 510. In other words, as shown in FIG. 7 a, both ends of the light-transmitting unit 200 are located outside the outer walls of the two side formworks 510.

Step 4015 includes outwardly separating the two side formworks 510. As shown in FIG. 7 b, in the preferred embodiment, the two side formworks 510 are separated to opposite sides of the bottom formwork 530. In this preferred embodiment, it also includes forming a fastening device 270 on the light-transmitting unit 200 to position the light-transmitting unit 200. The fastening device 270 is placed at the outer wall of the side formwork 510 and engages the hole 511 to prevent the light-transmitting unit 200 from inwardly sliding. The fastening device 270 may be formed by tying one end of the light-transmitting unit 200 or by setting a screw, a clam or a sleeve. However, in another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 c, exerting an outward pulling force F on two corresponding ends of the light-transmitting unit 200 may provide a tension to position the light-transmitting unit 200.

FIG. 8 a, FIG. 8 b and FIG. 8 c show another embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention. In this embodiment, each side formwork 510 has an external wall 513 and an internal wall 515. There are corresponding holes 511 on the external wall 513 and the internal wall 515. After moving the side formworks 510 to both sides of the bottom formwork 530, as shown in FIG. 8 b and FIG. 8 c, then parallelly changes a relative position between the external and internal plate to fix the position the light-transmitting unit 200. As a result of the displacement between the external plate 513 and the internal plate 515, the skewered holes 511 move relative to each other to bend and clip the light-transmitting unit 200 to fix the position.

FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b show another embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the light-transmitting units 200 are disposed tier-by-tier and the concrete grout is filled sequently. After drying the concrete grout, as shown in FIG. 9 b, cut off both ends of the construction material to expose the light entrance end 210 and light exit end 230.

The present invention further provides a construction structure system. In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 10 a, the construction structure system of the present invention comprises a light-transmitting unit 200, a frame unit 600 and a concrete unit 300. In the preferred embodiment, the light-transmitting unit 200 includes light conductive fibers. In another embodiment, however, the light-transmitting unit 200 may include a light conductive membrane or other elements capable of transmitting light.

As shown in FIG. 10 a, the light-transmitting unit 200 has a light entrance end 210 and a light exit end 230, which are the two opposite ends of the light conductive fibers in this embodiment. After entering the light entrance end 210, the light fully or partially exits from light exit end 230 through the physical phenomenon of light penetration, refraction and reflection of the light-transmitting unit 200. There is a middle part 290 between the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 of the light-transmitting unit 200.

The middle part 290 of the light-transmitting unit 200 is connected to the frame unit 600, i.e., the middle part 290 is attached on the frame unit 600. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 a, the frame unit includes a steel bar. In another embodiment, however, as shown in FIG. 10 b, the frame unit 600 includes a steel joint 610. In the embodiment shown as FIG. 10 c, the steel joint 610 of the frame unit 600 is formed from a steel connecting tube 630.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 a, FIG. 10 b and FIG. 10 c, the middle part 290 of the light transmitting unit 200 is connected to the frame unit 600 by a fastening device 700. The preferred embodiment of the fastening device 700 includes a steel wire. In another embodiment, however, the binding device 700 may include a plastic binding belt or other device capable of positioning.

The concrete unit 300 encloses at least a part of the frame unit 600 and the middle part 290 of the light-transmitting unit 200. The concrete unit 300 positions the light-transmitting unit 200 and the frame unit 600 simultaneously and joins the frame unit 600 to provide the structure strength as a whole. What worth noticed is that the concrete unit 300 only covers the middle part 290 of the light-transmitting unit 200 without covering the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230. That is, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 are respectively exposed outside the concrete unit 300. In the preferred embodiment, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 are respectively exposed from the same surface of the concrete unit 300. However, in another embodiment, the light entrance end 210 and the light exit end 230 may be exposed from different surfaces of the concrete unit 300 as well.

As a result of the light-transmissible characteristic of the light-transmitting unit 200, while the light-transmitting unit 200 is continuous, the light entering the light entrance end 210 may be received at the light exit end 230. When the construction structure system is affected by an external force and thus produces a fracture or other form of damages in frame unit 600 or concrete unit 300, the light-transmitting unit 200 becomes broken or fractured accordingly. Owing to the internal discontinuousness of the light-transmitting unit 200, the property of transmitting the light is also changed. Therefore, while it is unable to receive the light at the light exit end 230, or the light received at light exit end 230 changes, it deems that the internal of the construction structure system has fractures or other damages. In addition, when the inside of the construction structure system disposes a plurality of light-transmitting units 200 in different places or different frame units, it is able to determine the position of internal damage by observing the light at the light exit ends 230 of each light-transmitting unit 200.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A method for manufacturing a light-transmissible construction material, comprising: placing at least one light-transmitting unit between two formworks; filling concrete grout between said two formworks; and drying said concrete grout to form said light-transmissible construction material.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising positioning said light-transmitting unit.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the placing step includes: juxtaposing said two frameworks; passing at least one light-transmitting unit through corresponding holes of said two formworks; and outwardly separating said two formworks.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising forming a fastening device on said light-transmitting unit corresponding to an outer wall of said formwork to position said light-transmitting unit.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein each said formwork has an external plate and an internal plate, the placing step includes parallelly changing a relative position between said external and internal plate to position said light-transmitting unit.
 6. The method of claim 3, further comprising exerting an outward pulling force on two opposite ends of said light-transmitting unit to provide the said light-transmitting unit with a tension. 